Blonde and Green
by J.J. Larsen
Summary: Chapter 3 is up. Mr Schu sets another challenge.
1. Chapter 1

_**So I might have to admit to Sam being one of my favourite male characters. I quite enjoy writing about him because his character is so easy to write with, especially in romantic settings. The other characters are all awkward in romance stories but I think Sam is perfect for them. Also I had to pair him with Rory because they are both kind of sweet together. Be warned, Rory does a lot of staring and not understanding, much like he actually does in Glee.**_

Disclaimer - I do not own the characters and this is purely fictional. The right for the characters remains with the creator and I in no way suggest any sort of ownership of them. Fiction is just for fun.

Blonde and Green

Rory watched Sam, every rehearsal, usually from a chair at the back of the room. He didn't know what it was about Sam that got him going crazy but ever since they had spent Christmas break together, Rory knew he was smitten with the blonde.

"Joining us for lunch?" Rory was snapped out of his daydream by Finn's question and previously unknown to Rory, most of the glee club was waiting on his answer. A few of them had sauntered off to do their own thing, The Troubletones all seemed to stick together and then Puck often disappeared, but the rest of them were waiting on his answer.

"Sorry?" Rory had spent too long in his imagination and had forgotten the question.

"He asked if you would be gracing the school cafeteria with your presence and accompanying us for lunch?" Kurt had flare which often threw Rory more off balance. He didn't dislike him, he just didn't understand him; although he sometimes felt like he didn't understand anyone here.

"Oh, yeah, I will." The group made their way to the cafeteria, it was always safer in groups, it was harder to slushy an entire glee club. Harder but not impossible.

Rory used to have a thing for Brittany but now felt that maybe she wouldn't be able to satisfy him the way that Sam might; although he was stupid for thinking so. Sam was a jock and could get any girl he wanted in the school - he'd dated Quinn and Santana - so what gave Rory a chance? Nothing, that's what. He couldn't help but constantly have the tune to "It's Not Easy Being Green" playing over in his head. It was the first song he remembered singing when he joined the school and it portrayed exactly how he felt; alone and outcast.

"You okay Rory?" Sam asked, putting his hand on the other boys shoulder. Rory tried to fake a smile and stammered out an incomprehensible confirmation but Sam didn't seem impressed by it.

"So is everyone excited for Nationals this year?" Rachel was of course peppy and upbeat, as she always was when the talk was on glee. "I think we definitely need a big Broadway number to really display my vocal range and then we're definitely going to win. The only reason we haven't won before is because the songs that Mr Schuester has chosen for us have limited my vocal range so the judges don't hear it all. I was thinking maybe No Good Deed from Wicked?" The entire conversation flew over Rory's head, much as it did whenever anyone was speaking, but Rachel spoke so quickly and so passionately about stuff that sometimes Rory just blocked her out.

"Why don't we let Rory show his range?" The mention of his name made him pay attention, especially when it came from the blonde boy with the perfect accent.

"I'm sorry?" Rachel had heard clearly what he said but was asking more out of shock and confirmation.

"I think Rory might be hiding an amazing vocal range and if we could let him show it then we might actually stand a chance of winning."

"I don't think that his voice," She turned to Rory and put a hand on his forearm. "No matter how good it is, would be able to win us Nationals. I think we should stick to the usual routine of letting myself and Finn take lead vocals with everyone else on backing vocals." The rest of the table had grown weary of Rachel's voice. The girl could sing but she could also talk an awful lot.

"Give him a chance." Sam suggested once more. Rory was sat between Rachel and Sam and felt like he was trapped between children arguing about who the parent loves more.

"He can have a chance. Tomorrow in glee club, he can show everyone what his amazing vocal range can do." Kurt, whilst having his own unique way of saying things, was enough to win Rachel over. She finally agreed to let Rory sing a solo in the hopes that he might get more of a chance for a solo at Nationals. "Oh but please, no Celtic music, you're not going to impress anybody with that." Once again, although he didn't phrase it properly, Kurt had a point.

The lunch bell rang and everyone headed to class, dropping their trays off as they left. Rory walked with Sam to their next class. He wasn't sure why but he felt safer walking with Sam, like even if someone did throw a slushy in his face then it wouldn't be so bad.

"I can't sing in front of the glee club tomorrow." Rory said with his intriguing Irish lilt.

"Why not? It's not like you get stage fright, I've heard you sing in front of us before. This time though you'll be showing us what an awesome range you've got." Sam seemed more confident that Rory was; which wasn't surprising considering it was his idea.

"But I don't know what song to sing. I've only done ballads." Sam thought for a moment and then, like a light-bulb had been turned on, he had an idea.

"Why don't you come over to my house tonight and I can help you find some songs. I know a lot of country music and I don't think anyone would expect you to do it. Meet me in the gym after school, I've got swimming practice but we'll do it after that."

The rest of the school day flew by but in Rory's mind the only thing he could focus on was that he was going to get to spend time with Sam after school.

When the time finally rolled around, Rory waited in the gym for Sam, although after ten minutes he didn't show. Rory felt like his heart had been ripped out, he'd put a lot of his imagination into wishing it would go perfectly and then Sam just didn't show. He went to look for him, assuming he might still be in the locker room. There was no one there which felt like another crack to Rory's heart.

"You're still here?" He'd been waiting nearly half an hour but Sam finally showed; dripping wet wearing a pair of tight red speedos. Rory's bag slipped off of his shoulder as he was too busy staring at Sam to even notice it happen. "I thought you'd have gone home by now." Rory had forgotten that Sam was half an hour late, or that he was even standing in the locker room; in Rory's mind it was just him and Sam and nothing else around. "Earth to Rory." Sam waved his hand in front of Rory's eyes which seemed to snap him out of his trance, slightly.

"Sorry? What did you say?" Sam laughed. His face always lit up when he laughed.

"I was going to say that I'm sorry I'm late. I was late to practice and had to do extra laps around the pool before I was allowed out. Let me just get dressed and then we can look at some songs." Rory turned around although immediately wished he didn't. Sam would've turned around to get to his locker and Rory could've stood and stared without drawing attention to himself, but now if he turned back around it would look like he was trying to stare. He could hear the noises Sam was making as he was getting dressed; he knew as soon as the locker opened that Sam would be getting undressed before getting dressed.

Rory felt a hand on his shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin but calmed down again when he realised it was only Sam. Sam's amusement at Rory's ability to be startled was written over his face.

"Do you wanna look at some songs now?" Rory nodded, he didn't think he was capable of actually saying words. Sam got his iPod out of his bag and started scrolling through some of the songs. "If you see something you know then just say stop."

There were a few minutes before Rory actually saw anything he knew and finally said "Stop." Sam's finger immediately stopped scrolling and he asked Rory to point out which one he knew. "Someday When I Stop Loving You by Carrie Underwood." Rory said as he read from the list.

"You know it?" Rory nodded again; every time Sam looked at him with those beautiful eyes he couldn't help but fall speechless. "How well do you know it?" This question was harder because it actually required Rory to speak.

"Uhm, okay I guess." The conviction wasn't in his voice and Sam could tell, although it was going to be hard for him to be certain whether he knew it until he practiced it.

"Do you want to practice is now? If you don't have it then I could lend you my iPod and you could learn it more at home if that's better." Rory was a bit dumbfounded. On one hand he wanted to sing in front of Sam just to tell him everything that was in the song, but on the other hand he wanted to take his iPod because there would be more of Sam inside the gadget. He hesitated for a moment and Sam sensed it. "Are you okay Rory?"

"Yeah. Fine." Rory's answers were short and sweet. Sam offered him the iPod and he took it, cramming it into his pocket and making his way out of the locker room. He only managed to get to the end of the row of lockers though before he heard Sam's voice again.

"Why didn't you look?" Sam asked. His tone wasn't accusatory; he actually seemed a bit hurt more than anything else.

"Sorry?"

"When I was getting dressed, why didn't you look? I thought you liked me."

"I do like you." Rory felt like he was the more dominant one all of a sudden, he had to reassure Sam of things. He'd never seen this side to the fair-haired boy before.

"No, I thought you liked me as more than just a friend." Rory felt his face burn with embarrassment. If Sam knew then who else knew? Had he really been that obvious about it? "But when I was getting dressed you didn't look, you turned away so you didn't have to look." Sam wasn't even looking at Rory when he said it, he felt too embarrassed to be saying it all.

"I was being polite." Rory replied. He took a seat next to Sam on the bench where they had been sitting moments ago. Neither of them looked at each other though; Sam was looking at the ground and Rory was looking at the lockers ahead of him. "Where I come from, if you like someone, you don't just stare at them, especially not when they're getting dressed." Rory's lilt was endearing and it made Sam smile even in the most difficult of moments.

"So you do like me?" Sam had regained his confidence because he'd reached the conclusion long before Rory had. Rory blushed and still didn't make eye contact although Sam's focus was now on Rory. Rory nodded; his usual response when Sam was watching him.

Sam gently took Rory's chin and turned him so the two of them were facing each other, their eyes meeting in a rare moment. Rory looked terrified, Sam just smiled.

Sam's lips were soft, softer than Rory's ever were - at least in Rory's opinion. He could still feel Sam smiling even as their lips were pressed together, he liked it when Sam smiled.

When the two boys separated they both looked happier than they ever had. Rory had an embarrassed smile plastered on his face and Sam was back to being the dominant one, he couldn't help but like seeing Rory like this. Sam had the teenage schoolgirl effect on Rory, with just one look he could make him go weak at the knees and smile completely at random. Sam liked making Rory smile.

"So…" Sam spoke, softly. They hadn't moved their heads too far away from each other. Sam could feel Rory's nervous breathing, regardless of how much he tried to calm him down.

"So…" Rory replied, not really sure where they went from here.

"Did you like it?" Rory nodded. He shouldn't have felt the way he did after Sam had just kissed him, but he still couldn't form words properly when Sam's gaze was on him. "Would you like to do it again?" Rory nodded with a slight smile now, his expressions always lit up whenever Sam was close by. "Can I call you my boyfriend?" Sam asked. Rory's expression changed to one of slight terror at the word _boyfriend_. Sam laughed quietly and placed another brief kiss on Rory's lips. "You can define our relationship." Rory thought for a moment and then lent in closely to Sam's ear.

"Boyfriend." He whispered before planting his own brief kiss on the blonde.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay so once again I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Sam and Rory has really grown on my since writing the first chapter (although they have to actually use his character better in Glee!) I seriously appreciate the reviews and just knowing the people like the writing/pairing/storyline is what keeps me writing stories. Oh I'm not sure about the song part of the story but if you like it then yay but if you don't then I won't do it again. It's just that I promised a song in the last one and didn't do it and then I nearly didn't deliver again but had to reconsider it and decided to put it in.**_

Disclaimer - I do not own the characters and this is purely fictional. The right for the characters remains with the creator and I in no way suggest any sort of ownership of them. Fiction is just for fun.

Blonde and Green - Chapter 2

It wasn't like Sam had been ignoring him. Or had he? Rory's head drowned in the confusion of being in a relationship every time thought about Sam - and it had only been a week since they started dating. He hadn't seen Sam very much, apart from at glee club, although even that was very awkward between them.

Shortly after their first kiss they had decided they didn't want all the drama. It was bad enough with everyone dating everyone else in glee that they should just let people believe they were happy being single.

Rory entered the glee club practice room to find most of the participants already there; including his boyfriend. Sam was sat at the front of the room, slouched down in the chair slightly with his arms folded, as usual. He even managed to make slouching look sexy. Rory's eyes quickly surveyed the room and he had to find a spot near Sam but not close enough that it would be awkward for the two of them all class. After a couple of seconds of looking, Rory decided on a seat at the front of the room, a couple of chairs away from Sam. They had done this kind of seating before, when Rory and Sam weren't dating, and Rory always noticed Sam out of the corner of his eye so he was hoping for the same this time.

As Rory sat down, Sugar threw herself into the seat next to him, one of the ones between him and Sam. She was, as usual, bright and bubbly, wearing girly colours of pink and purples with hearts and sequins dotted around. Rory sat wearing brown pants and a dark green shirt; he always felt so dull next to Sugar.

"So Rory" Sugar began. She couldn't do anything by half and it always took Rory off balance when she turned to him and railed off a hyper sentence that almost knocked him off his chair. "You know you went as my date to my party on Valentine's Day?" She didn't wait for Rory to answer, of course he remembered, no one forgot the effect Sugar had on them. "Well, I had so much fun last time that I've decided we're going out again. Tonight. I'll meet you at Breadsticks and you can buy me dinner." Mr Schu entered the class at precisely the wrong moment. Now Rory couldn't turn down the date because otherwise he'd have to interrupt Mr Schu and draw attention to himself.

He glanced over at Sam who seemed to catch his look. Their eyes met and Sam smiled first. Sam had the most infectious smile - maybe it was because he seemed like the jock type until you got to know him and then you found out he was a real dork - but his smile always made Rory smile too.

"Okay, so we're going to be doing duets again, to see which pair are the best and should be our main singers at Nationals." Rachel and Finn paired up. Mike and Tina paired up. Blaine and Kurt paired up. Brittany and Santana paired up. "Guys, don't you think we should mix up the pairs a bit more? Who knows what chemistry you'll have with someone else in the room?"

"You're not going to suggest the hat again are you Mr Schu?" Mr Schu was busy ignoring Tina's comment and picked a small hat up from behind the piano.

"We're going to pick names out of the hat." The room groaned at the thought of this. Now people were going to get stuck with other people they didn't like. "This way you might be paired with someone that will surprise you. No changing partners though. What the hat says is final."

Everyone's name was written down onto individual pieces of paper and dropped into the hat. Mr Schu shuffled the names around and decided, instead of letting the student pick for themselves, that he would pick for them. This way no one could complain about not getting to pick their partner because no one was picking.

Rory prayed that he would get called out alongside Sam and they could do a duet together. He was also hoping for anyone apart from Sugar because then he could at least escape their date together.

Mr Schu reached into the hat and pulled out the first name. "Finn." Rory didn't mind Finn, he could live with having to sing with Finn. "And…" Mr Schu pulled out a second piece of paper. "Tina." Neither of them looked thrilled with the pairing but they got along so they couldn't really complain too much. "The next couple is…" Mr Schu's hand went back into the hat. "Rachel." Rachel was a bit shocked to hear her name considering her only choice of partner had now gone. "And…"

"Mr Schu, don't you think that pulling names out of a hat is a risky way of deciding who should partner who? I mean-"

"Kurt." Both Kurt and Rachel let out an ear piercing scream. They were arguably two of the best and most versatile singers in the whole club. With Kurt's voice they were able to do any duet they could think of, and most of the time they wouldn't even have to change the lyrics for Kurt.

"I'm sorry Blaine." Kurt apologised before running over to Rachel and the two of them began discussing songs. Rory couldn't help but think how understanding Blaine had to be to let his boyfriend just run off like that.

"Rory." Rory thought he was being told off for staring or daydreaming but then he realised his name had been pulled out of the hat.

_Please be Sam. Please don't be Sugar_. The thoughts rattled around in his head more than he could cope and it felt like a lifetime before Mr Schu actually pulled a name out of the hat again.

"And…" It was the same amount of time but it felt like Mr Schu was drawing it out; Rory wondered if he knew about him and Sam. Had he figured it out? Had they been that obvious? They couldn't have been; they hadn't spoken since they arrived at glee today. "Quinn."

The room fell silent. There couldn't have been a more awkward pairing to have come out of the hat. Not only did Quinn used to be head cheerleader, not only had she changed dramatically since coming back this year, but she was also Sam's ex-girlfriend. Rory looked over to Quinn at the back of the room. Her expression hadn't changed much. She didn't seem disgusted at having to deal with the exchange student, but she didn't look thrilled with it either.

Sam's partner had to be a good choice because Rory didn't think he could stand having another awkward pairing. Sam was paired with Blaine - the other gay guy in the class. Every inch of Rory's body wanted to stand up and complain to Mr Schuester. He wanted to explain what was going on with him and Sam and then maybe Mr Schu would change the pairings so that he could get to sing with his boyfriend. But he couldn't do that without drawing attention to himself which is the last thing he wanted.

The pairs were all finally set up although Rory couldn't remember anyone else apart from himself and Quinn and Sam and Blaine. After practice everyone decided to split off into their partners. Sam and Blaine went off somewhere down the hallway and all Rory could do was pray it wasn't the locker room. He didn't want to imagine the two of them 'practicing' in the place that they had their first kiss. Rory just followed Quinn.

She led him to an empty classroom. It was going to be empty because school was out and so everyone had gone home. Rory would've invited Quinn back to his apart from it looked too forward and he was living with Brittany. "So, Irish, got any songs in mind?" The way most people called him Irish was offensive, like they wanted him to go back home, but the glee clubbers never meant it that way. Not even Quinn. Rory assumed she'd called him it because she couldn't actually remember his real name.

"It has to be a duet?" Rory felt stupid for asking the question but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He couldn't be expected to keep one half of his mind on Sam and the other half on the duets project.

"It does help a duet's project if we choose a duet." Quinn said as she walked around the classroom admiring some of the work.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just a little bit distracted."

"He won't cheat on you." Rory was shocked to hear the words come out of Quinn's mouth. They weren't even looking at each other but he knew that she knew.

"I'm sorry?" He turned around and Quinn turned to face him. Her expression rarely changed but she had such a readable face that it didn't need to.

"Sam. He's a good guy." Rory had expected her to at least say something horrible about Sam, considering they used to date.

"I don't know what you mean." Quinn had to smile. She knew exactly what Rory was going through. She'd been in his position before, even with Sam, and so she knew that he was trying to deny everything.

"You're dating Sam Evans; the blonde guy that you keep giving stolen glances to across the practice room? There's a reason I sit at the back you know. I see everything that's going on." On the old Quinn that would have sounded creepy and manipulative but she wasn't that girl anymore. "So what's going on between you two?"

Rory gave up trying to argue and sat down in one of the classroom chairs. "I don't know. We started dating last week and I have all these feelings inside me. Whenever he's away from me I get really sad but then when he's near it's like my heart is trying to escape from my chest. I don't know what's wrong with me." Quinn had to laugh. Once again she knew everything he was saying and had been there with a few guys before. For Rory, Quinn was the best partner he could have found, he just didn't realise it immediately.

"You're in love." Rory shook his head as if the idea was ridiculous. "Does the idea of him holding your hand send shivers down your spine? Does the idea of him kissing you make you weak at the knees and you can't help but smile?" Rory wanted to deny everything she was saying but then he started to get flashbacks to their first kiss and the smile crept across his lips. "You're in love. It's okay, you can say it."

"We've barely spoken to each other all week. We have the occasional text message or phone call but other than that we don't talk much during school."

"It's a new relationship and you're both new at dating guys. Trust me, when you both get more comfortable with love then you'll be like Blaine and Kurt." Rory shuddered when he heard Blaine's name. Right now Blaine was right where Rory wanted to be. "Tell Sam how you feel."

"I can't."

The week passed by and Sam and Rory spent more time together, although Rory always wanted more. They had occasional stolen dates when they found themselves alone together in random places for an hour or so. They had a nice dinner at Breadsticks and a couple of minutes alone in a movie theatre before the others arrived. But everything always ended the same. It would always be a secret kiss and then they'd say goodbye. Rory wasn't sure if he could admit it but maybe he was in love. He couldn't have enough of Sam and even his flaws were endearing. There was nothing that Sam could do to annoy him. But he still didn't want to admit his feelings, not until he was sure that Sam felt the same way.

"And next up is the unlikely pairing of Rory and Quinn." Rory and Quinn took the centre of the room and before Mr Schuester sat down he turned to them and asked "I hope you found some common ground for a duet?"

Quinn smiled her usual smile, the kind that sometimes appeared fake but was often more genuine than she let on. "We found something." The music for "I Won't Say I'm In Love" from Disney's Hercules began to play and Rory began the singing.

[Rory]  
><em>If there's a prize for rotten judgement<br>I guess I've already won that  
>No man is worth the aggravation<br>That's ancient history  
>Been there, done that<br>_  
>[Quinn]<br>_Who'd you think you're kiddin'?  
>He's the Earth and Heaven to you<br>Try to keep it hidden  
>Honey, we can see right through you<br>Now, you can't conceal it  
>We know how you feel and<br>Who you're thinking of_

[Rory]  
><em>No chance, No way<br>I won't say it, no, no_

[Quinn]  
><em>You swoon, you sigh,<br>Why deny it? uh-oh  
><em>  
>[Rory]<br>_It's too cliché  
>I won't say I'm in love<em>

_I thought my heart had learned its lesson  
>It feels so good when you start out<br>My head is screaming "Get a grip, now!"  
>Unless you're dying to cry your heart out<br>Oh_

[Quinn]  
><em>You keep on denying<br>Who you are and how you're feeling  
>Baby, were not buying<br>Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling  
>Face it like a grown-up<br>When you gonna own up  
>That you got, got, got it bad?<em>

[Rory]  
><em>No chance, no way,<br>I won't say it, no, no_

[Quinn]  
><em>Give up, give in<br>Check the grin you're in love_

[Rory]  
><em>This scene won't play,<br>I won't say I'm in love_

[Quinn]  
><em>You're doin' flips, read our lips:<br>You're in love_

[Rory]  
><em>You're way off base, I won't say it<br>Get off my case, I won't say it_

[Quinn]  
><em>Now, don't be proud<br>It's ok you're in love_

[Rory]  
><em>Oh<br>At least out loud,  
>I won't say I'm in love<em>

The round of applause was staggered. No one had expected Rory and Quinn to be able to work together so well but somehow they'd managed to pull it off. Rory realised that he was getting a few strange looks from people and had to cast his mind back to the song. They had remembered to change all the genders in the song hadn't they? _"no man is worth the aggravation_" rang in Rory's mind as he realised what he'd done and wondered how many of the other glee clubbers had noticed. Had he been staring too much at Sam as well? Had he just completely blown their secret after two weeks?

Sam leaned across to Rory - only Quinn was sat between them - and whispered "I think I'm in love." Rory blushed, not really understanding what the future held for the two of them now that Sam had said it.

_**Remember that reviews are greatly appreciated and if you'd like to see any particular storyline develop from this then feel to say so. Also if you want to know what happened between Sam and Blaine then I could try writing that but you'll have to let me know, otherwise I have to guess at what people want. Oh and don't hate me for using Quinn so much, she is my favourite Glee character, and I wanted to give Sam and Rory a chapter of not being together. So yeah anyway, as always, let me know what you thought!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**I wrote myself into a bit of a corner with this story (as I do with most of them) and really struggled to find a direction for this to go in. I hope everyone is happy with the way it goes and feel free to voice your opinions in the reviews, I don't mind suggestions either. I wasn't going to continue this but the pairing of Sam and Rory is just too cute not to continue. Oh and any song I use I will highly recommend listening to, I won't ever include a song I don't like.**_

Disclaimer - I do not own the characters and this is purely fictional. The right for the characters remains with the creator and I in no way suggest any sort of ownership of them. Fiction is just for fun.

Blonde and Green – Chapter 3

Rory had never been in a relationship before and here he was in a secret relationship with school jock and slight nerd Sam Evans. They still weren't getting much alone time together but that was the difficulty of keeping it a secret. Quinn knew but that was because Quinn made it her business to know everything and interrogating Rory wasn't difficult, he could sometimes be relied upon to fold under the slightest pressure.

Sam however was strong willed and, what worked as a bonus for him, appeared to be straight. Rory wasn't as fortunate and got questioned all the time about whether there were any girls he was interested in and afterwards the question would always be "any guys?" Since Kurt had come out the Glee club had made it their business to make sure everyone felt as comfortable as they could with themselves, even if sometimes they came across as slightly intrusive.

Rehearsal was underway and as usual Mr Schuester was talking about the upcoming competition and about how they really need to be on form and he was super excited that they had qualified for yet another year. Rory didn't understand why Mr Schu got so excited about it, from what he'd heard they weren't exactly the worst Glee club around. Rachel as usual suggested herself for the lead solo and even volunteered to write the song since her previous efforts had gone down quite well.

"Now I might be out of line saying this, in fact I kind of hope I am, but didn't you cost us the competition last time with your unscheduled lip lock with the Pillsbury doughboy?" Santana asked from the back of the classroom.

"Me and Finn were simply declaring our love for each other and if the competition judges penalized us for doing so then we are not to blame. Our love is not something to be ashamed of and we should not have lost because of that." Rachel crossed her arms like a stubborn child and left Finn sitting there awkwardly having just been insulted by Santana and then defended by his girlfriend.

"All I know is that if anyone is planning anymore unscheduled PDA's then they best rethink it because I want that trophy and no sickening declarations of love are going to get in the way of that." Santana knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to let everyone else know about it.

"While she may not have gone about it the right way, Santana does have a point. We can't afford to jeopardize the competition this year and any secrets or drama that you guys have going on needs to be sorted before the competition." Rory looked across at Sam and noticed the same trepidation in his eyes. They couldn't just stand up in front of the class and proclaim that they were gay and dating, it would be awkward, but they had just been told that they had to get things sorted before the competition.

"Mr Schu don't you think we should be allowed to run our personal lives the way we want?"

"Normally I'd agree with you but experience has shown me that you guys can't be trusted not to let your emotional drama explode up into a big ball of crazy."

"But you can't just control us and make us say exactly how we feel about everyone else in the room?"

"It's not right to keep secrets. For instance I think Finn is a strange man-child who looks like he's about thirty seconds away from devolving into a caveman and dragging Rachel back to his cave to have his way with her. Or maybe that Kurt and Blaine are so sickeningly loved up that in future I might just bring a big bucket to rehearsals so I can throw up the next time they make googly eyes at each other. Or maybe I should express my concerns that Tina is getting more Asian by the day…" Santana spoke in her usual frank and honest expression. It was the Santana that everyone had come to know and most had come to tolerate, they were still a few steps away from loving that Santana.

"That's incredibly offensive." Tina replied.

"I just tells it how it is."

"Santana does have a point, and it gives me an idea for this week's assignment." The class looked around at each other in confusion, everyone was silent and the bewildered looks were enough.

"Okay I'll ask it." Kurt began from his chair. "We're still doing those assignments? I thought we gave up on those when we realised that instead of solving the drama it just provoked more drama." Mr Schu would have replied if he wasn't too busy ignoring the class in favour of his own supposedly brilliant idea.

"This week I want you all to pick a song that reflects how you feel about someone else in the group." Rachel's mouth opened to speak, as it usually did, but Mr Schu cut her off. "It has to be to someone that you wouldn't usually say it to. So no love songs from Rachel to Finn or Tina to Mike or Santana to Brittany. I want a secret you've been wanting to say. You don't have to say who it's to, I just want you to clear the air enough so that you've said what you need to say." The suggestion was met with a resounding groan. The only good thing about Mr Schu's assignments were that he didn't pick the songs – the worst weeks always came when he assigned them songs from an album or an artist.

Mr Schu was called out of the class to a meeting with Principal Figgins and Sue Sylvester shortly after his announcement and told the glee club to look over songs and decide what they wanted to sing because they'd be performing at the end of the week.

Sam immediately got up from his chair, which was a couple of seats away from Rory, and made his way next to his boyfriend. The group had already erupted into a dispute of whether Rachel should sing a Broadway number or whether Santana knew any songs about annoying people in wheelchairs.

"Do you know what song you're going to sing?" Sam asked. He wanted to reach out and hold Rory's hand but he knew everyone would notice. They may be caught up in their own drama but if something scandalous happened then they would definitely notice.

"I've got a couple of ideas." Rory replied a bit cryptically. In reality his mind was whirring with ideas of what he wanted to say. He could actually get up and tell the whole room how he felt about Sam but without everyone actually knowing.

"Before you choose a song I just want you to know that I love you, okay?" The words always took Rory's breath away and to this date he'd never been able to say the words first.

"I love you too." He could always reply with them but could never bring himself to say them first. A part of his mind was still unsure as to how Sam would react and he still doubted himself as to whether Sam did actually love him. He had scenarios running through his mind of him saying the words and Sam just laughing or walking off. For a man who could get up and sing in front of an audience, Rory sure did have a confidence problem sometimes.

The week went by quite quickly and Rory would spend all of his time looking for the perfect song to sing and rehearse it every chance he got. He barely saw Sam all week because they were both so busy practicing their songs. He kept noticing everyone walking around holding hands or kissing in the hallways and every time he would curse and wish that he could do that with Sam. The world would understand wouldn't they? They accept Kurt and Blaine; but Kurt and Blaine weren't Sam and Rory.

"Do you know what song you're going to sing?" Quinn asked. She was sat next to him the day that the performances came around. Sam would usually have been sat the other side but he was running late from swimming practice again. Apart from Sam and Mr Schu everyone else was present.

"I'm still not sure. I've got a couple of choices." Rory took out a list of songs and showed them to Quinn.

"I'm guessing their about you-know-who?" Quinn asked. She was always very careful when talking to either of them about their relationship. She understood that not everyone in the world knew about them and she didn't mind keeping it slightly under wraps until they were ready to tell everyone.

"Yeah, I just want a chance to tell him how I feel because I don't get to."

"Are you sure he's okay with this? I mean he is in the relationship as well and I know guys, they can be a bit unpredictable when you surprise them with something. Are you sure he's not going to freak out if you sing this to him?" Rory hadn't thought about how Sam would feel about everything. He'd always assumed that Sam would be singing a song to him and he would sing a song to Sam, it never crossed his mind that Sam might not want everyone to know they were together. Sure they didn't have to mention names but even without names, two single guys singing love songs kind of suggested that they were together.

Rory took out his iPod and quickly scrolled through wondering if there were anything other than love songs on there. It seemed like all he owned were songs with the word love in them and he panicked as soon as Sam entered the room.

Sam flashed him a quick smile before moving to a seat on the other side of the room. Rory knew that Sam wouldn't want them to go public yet and that him sitting over there meant exactly that.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Rachel stood up but Mr Schu didn't move from where he stood. "How about we let someone else go first?" Rachel sat down angrily and folded her arms as usual. "Sam, have you got a song for us?"

Sam stood up and made his way to the centre of the room. He took a deep breath.

"This is a song for…someone in this room. I don't really want to say who but it's a personal song and it's sort of the reason we haven't spent as much time together as I would've liked." Sam nodded at the piano man and the rest of the unnamed band joined in as well. The tune was unfamiliar to most of the group but Sam introduced it as "You Never Say It First by Madonna Nash." Of course it was country, Sam loved country.

"_I always say I love you, you always say it back  
>I don't wanna show you what to do, or tell you how to act<br>But I'm telling you the truth now, and you can take it for what it's worth  
>You always say I love you, but you never say it first<em>

_You never say it first, babe, and I'm wondering why  
>Sure, you say I love you, but it's always a reply<br>You might think that it's silly, but sometimes it kind of hurts  
>You always say I love you, but you never say it first<em>

_Are you scared you might sound silly, or come off less than a man  
>I know there are times you want to say it, let me assure you that you can<br>But if it's not what you have wanted, or if you think you've changed your mind  
>Then be the first to say it, because I can't be second in line<em>

_You never say it first, babe, and I'm wondering why  
>Sure, you say I love you, but it's always a reply<br>You might think that it's silly, but sometimes it kind of hurts  
>You always say I love you, but you never say it first<em>

_First I say I love you, then you say I love you, too  
>Is it something that you feel or something that you think you have to do….<em>

_You never say it first, babe, and I'm wondering why  
>Sure, you say I love you, but it's always a reply<br>You might think that it's silly, but sometimes it kind of hurts  
>You always say I love you, but you never say it first"<em>

The words hit Rory harder than he had thought and he felt a lump in his throat. His eyes burnt at trying to hold back the tears and Quinn could see from sitting next to him that something wasn't right with him. The rest of the group applauded in little groups, no one really quite sure what to make of it.

"Can I just put this out there," Santana's voice came from the back of the room. "This is the worst idea you've ever had Mr Schu. And that includes funk and disco weeks."

Sam hadn't managed to make it through the performance without a couple of tears falling from his eyes. He didn't want to sing it to Rory and it hurt him so much but he'd always been of the belief that honesty in a relationship was the most important thing.

"I just want to say sorry to whoever that song was for." Sam's demeanor had never been so sad. Rory wanted to apologize and tell Sam that everything was okay but he couldn't find the words. Every word he ever knew he disappeared from his brain and he was left with a scattered pile of letters that didn't form anything.

"Okay…" Mr Schu sounded unsure of himself and his idea as he took back the centre of the classroom. "Next up we have Rachel…"

"Mr Schu?" Rory stood up from his seat and took everyone by surprise. Usually he was just the quiet Irish kid in the background who most people didn't notice, but now he was making himself known. "Can I say something before anyone else sings?"

"Erm, sure. The stage is yours." Mr Schu moved aside for Rory and took a seat.

"Don't worry, it's going to be quick. I just want to say that I love you Sam Evans. I don't care who knows it and I don't care if you don't say it back but I love you." The room was stunned into silence and no one was quite sure how to react to it.

Sam stood up and made his way to where Rory stood. He took Rory's hands in his and pressed his forehead against Rory's so he was looking directly into the other man's eyes. His face was serious but within a few seconds it twisted into a slight smile.

"I love you too."

_**I can still continue this if people would like. I've got one or two more directions for this story so it doesn't have to end there if people want it to continue.**_


End file.
